WORCESTERó More than four years after she allegedly killed a pregnant friend, cut the fetus from the woman's womb and tried to pass the newborn off as her own, the murder trial for Julie Corey is about to get underway.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Thursday in Worcester Superior Court for Ms. Corey's trial in the slaying of 23-year-old Darlene Haynes, whose body was discovered July 27, 2009, in her apartment at 94 Southgate St. The victim was eight months pregnant when she was killed, and her fetus was missing when her body was discovered in a bedroom closet in the apartment.

When investigators overturned a mattress in the bedroom, the underside was soaked in blood. An autopsy determined that Ms. Haynes died from skull fractures caused by blunt force trauma, asphyxiation by strangulation with an electrical cord found wrapped around her neck and a 9-inch incision in her abdomen.

Ms. Corey, 39, of 3 Henry Terrace, was identified by investigators as the last person to be seen with Ms. Haynes. That was about 8 p.m. on July 23, 2009, when she allegedly gave Ms. Haynes a ride to a package store.

Two days after Ms. Haynes' body was found, Ms. Corey and her boyfriend, Alex Dion, were located by authorities in a homeless shelter in Plymouth, N.H. They had a newborn baby girl with them who was later determined through DNA testing to be the child of Ms. Haynes and her boyfriend, Roberto "Tito" Rodriguez.

Mr. Dion was not charged in the case.

The child, now 4 years old, lives with Mr. Rodriguez, according to prosecutors.

Ms. Corey's lawyers, Louis P. Aloise and Michael C. Wilcox, filed an unsuccessful motion two years ago seeking the dismissal of the murder and kidnapping charges against their client. The defense lawyers argued that there was no evidence linking Ms. Corey to Ms. Haynes' death.

Judge Janet Kenton-Walker, who will preside over the trial, denied the motion, finding that the evidence presented to the grand jury, when viewed in a light most favorable to the prosecution, was "substantial."

"Haynes was eight months pregnant with a baby girl when she was last seen alive with Corey. Fingerprint evidence suggests that, at some point after Corey and Haynes stopped at the package store, Corey had been in the bedroom where Haynes was found dead with her baby cut from her body," the judge wrote.

Investigators said Ms. Corey's fingerprint was found on one of two wine coolers Ms. Haynes had bought at the package store.

The judge referred to evidence that Ms.Corey had been telling her boyfriend and his family since late February 2009 that she was pregnant, but refused to allow Mr. Dion to accompany her to her doctor visits because, she said, she was afraid he would take the baby from her once it was born. Judge Kenton-Walker also made reference to evidence that Ms. Corey called her boyfriend about 10:30 p.m. July 23, 2009, to tell him her water had broken and she was going to the hospital in Framingham to deliver.

Metro West Hospital in Framingham and seven other area hospitals had no record of the birth, according to the judge's decision.

"A couple of hours after Corey was last seen with Haynes, Corey told others that she had just given birth to a baby girl. Her stories were riddled with contradictions that cast significant doubt not only on the circumstances of her supposed delivery, but also on whether she had been pregnant at all.

"DNA evidence established that Haynes was the mother of the baby girl that Corey claimed was her own," the judge said in her ruling.

Assistant District Attorneys Daniel J. Bennett and Elizabeth Brennan will prosecute the case. Opening statements by the lawyers are scheduled for Jan. 27 and it is anticipated that the trial could last two to three weeks.

Prosecutors are planning to drop the kidnapping charge against Ms. Corey as "duplicative," according to Timothy J. Connolly, a spokesman for District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr., and go forward only on the murder charge.

Judge Kenton-Walker heard several pre-trial motions last week. When asked after the hearing about Ms. Corey's defense, Mr. Aloise said, "The defense is she didn't do it. Others did it. She had nothing to do with the homicide at all."

Mr. Aloise did not dispute that Ms. Corey was found with Ms. Haynes' baby, but said she came into possession of the newborn "by lawful means." Ms. Corey, who has pleaded not guilty, remains in custody without bail.

Sixteen jurors, including four alternates, will be seated to hear the case.